Enterprise Desktop Management Packages?
August 18, 2010 1:35 PM   Subscribe

Looking for a good enterprise desktop management suite for Windows 7, that will allow us to push out updates for all apps, inventory software, etc.

Our organization has been toying off-and-on with various desktop management products, usually aimed at Windows updates such as WUS / SUS, but never had them fully implemented. We're looking for something that will allow us to manage all of the PCs in our organization, across multiple locations / sites (and possibly multiple Windows domains), which will handle Windows updates, software deployment, 3rd-Party updates (Java, Acrobat, the usual clutter of icons in the system tray), as well as inventories of what is installed on each user's PC, in a dashboard or report that can quickly tell us who has what at a glance.

We're currently on Windows XP, but are planning on moving to Windows 7 (x64) soon. We'd like to make this a part of the rollout.

There's a lot of options out there - I'm looking for Hive Mind experiecne on which ones WORK, and are easy to use, rather than overpriced and / or a nightmare to manage.

Thank you!
posted by GJSchaller to Computers & Internet (6 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
I like LANDesk.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 1:40 PM on August 18, 2010


Something I use for a back end management is Spiceworks. It's free and runs on a server (no client software), lets you inventory your network, and it automatically tracks what software and updates are installed. It doesn't have SUS abilities as it's more of an inventory management but I imagine pairing this up with SUS would be pretty powerful. It also has a help ticket system built in but at a company of my size it's not something I use. On top of it is also a user community that can help solve problems and who come up with some great ideas of ways to accomplish things.
posted by msbutah at 1:49 PM on August 18, 2010


BigFix sounds like it's exactly what you're looking for. MeMail me if you want more details.
posted by The Michael The at 3:36 PM on August 18, 2010


Easy, you want a Kbox by kace does that and more we have it 22 locations, 900 nodes
posted by bleucube at 3:54 PM on August 18, 2010


All of the options out there are good. You might also consider Patchlink, from Lumension.
posted by BZArcher at 8:01 PM on August 18, 2010


Best answer: At the boss' discretion, we went with ManageEngine Desktop Central, which is doing a good job of what we're looking for, and at a VERY reasonable price.

Thank you, everyone, for your input on this!
posted by GJSchaller at 5:43 AM on August 23, 2010


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